Belts



Filed June 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. AMADEO GRISAN'II Oct. 2,1956 ms 'n 2,764,762

BELTS Filed June 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. AMADEO GRISANTIUnited StatesPatent O BELTS Amadeo Grisanti, Mount Vernon, N. Y.

Application June 14, 1954, Serial No. 436,554

1 Claim. (Cl. 2322) This invention relates to a belt used for thesupport of trousers, skirts, or any appropriate type of garment used bymen, women and children.

Belts of the type referred to are generally made of a material such asleather, and are rarely made of cloth, in view of the fact that clothheretofore has not provided the foundation and body that the averagebelt used for garment support purposes requires.

It is proposed, in accordance with the present inven- 2 tion, to providea cloth belt which, by reason of its novel construction, will include avery strong foundation that will make feasible the formation of a beltentirely from fabric components.

Another object of importance is to provide a belt of the expansion type,having means that will automatically increase the length of the beltwhile it is being worn, so as to permit the belt to automatically adjustitself to the wearers girth, thereby to add materially to the comfort ofthe wearer.

A further object is to so design the expansion means as to cause thesame to be hidden at all times.

Another object of considerable importance is to provide a slightlongitudinal curvature in each end portion of the belt. such that a beltformed straight from end to end thereof does not fit about the wearerswaist properly, the overlapping end portions of the belt tending todrop. downwardly out of longitudinally aligned relationship. The presentinvention counteracts this tendency, and as a result, the overlappingends extend horizontally in parallelism with the floor, inlongitudinally aligned re-' lation.

Still another object is to provide a loop construction for a garmentsupport belt that will be possessed of unusual strength despite itsbeing formed entirely of fabric material.

A further object is to provide, on a belt, a tongue formation that willbe of novel design, lending itself particularly well to ease and speedof manufacture while at the same time providing a very strong tongue orpoint that will not fray or become worn despite heavy use over a longperiod of time.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings,

and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of theinvention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a belt formed in accordance with thepresent invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1,showing the loop construction and expansion means, the dotted linesshowing one position The particular construction of trousers is'2,764,762 Fatented Oct. 2, 1956 Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5showing the lining to be connected to the body portion of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the tongue during an intermediate stage ofmanufacture.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the completed tongue.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view, portions being broken away, of a modifiedform.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view on line1010 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a transverse sectional view on line 12-12 of Fig. 10. v

of fabric material.

The reference numeral 10 has been applied generally The piece 12 isreinforced, for substantially its full I The member length, by a fabricstiffener member 16. 16, in a preferred embodiment, is of heavy linencanvas, although it could be of cotton canvas-if desired.

As a first step in manufacturing the belt, the stifiener is put througha folding device, not shown, that folds the edge portions of the sameinwardly as at 18 and reduces the transverse dimension of the canvas tothe exact width of the belt desired. The folds meet along thelongitudinal center line of the belt, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. On'one end of the canvas the desired point is formed, to provide thetongue of the belt. It will be understood that the canvas stiffenerwould be formed to a length of waist measure plus a few inches, fiveinches in addition to'the-waist measure being preferred in a commercialembodiment.

Face piece 12 is cut to alength of waist measure plus six inches, andhas at one end a point 20, the edges of which are spaced outwardly fromthe edges of the point 22 of the stiffener. The stiffener is placed ontop of the wrong side of the face piece with the folds 18 thereofencased within the folds'14 of the face piece. Then, the two pieces arestitched together by two rows of stitching 24, extending longitudinallyof the belt and spaced inwardly from the longitudinal edges of the belta dis tance of perhaps three-eighths of an inch. Then, at that end ofthe belt remote from the tongue, the portion of the face piece thatprojects beyond the adjacent end of the stiffener is folded under as at25 (Fig. 2 and stitched in its folded condition. v a A lining 26 ofcloth material is formed as a flat, un-

folded member throughout its length, the length of the lining beingperhaps one-half inch more than the original length of the stiffener.The lining is provided, at one end, with a short length of canvass 28(Fig. 6), said length being positioned against the inner surface of thelining and being adapted to afford a backing for a series of female snapfastener elements 3t as well as an added reinforcement of the belt atits tongue end. The length of reinforcing material 23 is stitched to thelining lengthwise thereof as at 32.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the lining, after being assembled withthe reinforcing member 23, is laid against the pointed portion of thebody, the member 28 being face down and the folds 14, 18 being face upas shown in Fig. 7. Stitching is then extended about the pointed end,after which the seam is trimmed. The point is then turned inside out,and will have the finished appearance shown in Fig. 8.

The lining is now stitched to the pieces 12, 16 through substantiallythe full length of the belt, the stitching being designated 34 andextending close to the respective longitudinal edges of the belt.

This stitching is stopped about two inches from the other end of thebelt, for insertion of a loop 36.

Loop 36 is formed, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, of an outer piece of clothmaterial 38, the edges of which are folded under as at 40. A loop lining42 is stitched as at 44 to the piece 38, at the location of the folds.

One end of the loop is placed between lining 26 and the 'body portion ofthe belt, after which the stitching 34 is continued along one side ofthe belt to secure said end of the loop in place, said stitching 34terminating at the folded under portion 25 of the belt.

An elastic expansion piece 46 is now inserted through the open side ofthe belt and at its inner end is stitched to the belt body and lining bylines of stitching 48 (Fig. 2). The other end of the loop is nowinserted between said expansion piece and lining 26, and is tacked tothe lining and belt body by hand.

The elastic piece 46 has its outer end projecting beyond the end fold 25of the lining, as shown in Fig. 2, and said outer end is provided with afolded cloth covering 50 stitched to the expansion piece as at 52. Amale snap fastener element 54 is secured to the expansion piece and tothe folded covering and mates with any of the female elements 30.

It is important to note that when the belt is worn no part of theelastic material is visible, whether said material is contracted to itsfull extent or is expanded longitudinally as shown in dotted lines inFig. 2. This is so because in all positions of the expansion piece, theother or tongue end, of the belt laps the same and conceals it fromview.

A very important characteristic of the belt is illustrated in Fig. 1. Aswill be noted, the end portions of the belt are curved upwardly to aslight but distinctly noticeable extent, as shown at 58. These are theportions of the belt that would be extended across the front of thewearers body when the belt is worn. A straight cut belt around the waistof a mans trousers cannot fit properly. The reason for this is that theback of the trousers are cut one-and-a-half to two inches higher thanthe front, and though the loops in the back are set lower from the topedge of the garment than the front loops, this of course is not enoughto balance the belt around the Waist so that all parts of the belt areparallel to the floor. It is for this reason that when the two ends of abelt lap in front of the trousers, one on top of the other, they willnot lie straight across in longitudinal alignment. In order to eliminatethis defect in a conventional belt, the present invention haslongitudinally curved ends, the curve being formed by hand, with theworker shaping the belt with a hand iron. The shaping of the belt isdone on a board shaped to the exact dimensions of the curve required onthe ends of the belt, to insure that the ends will align longitudinallyWhen lapped. The curvature is ironed in by hand, before the lining issewed on the belt, to retain its form.

It will be understood that though separable fasteners are illustrated,the belt can also be made with a harness buckle and eyelet, or with anyother type of buckle.

In Figs. 9-13, the belt has curved ends as in the first form, andincludes a sliding buckle intermediate its ends, which facilitatesfolding of the belt upon itself into a flat condition, when the belt isnot in use. In this form, the belt 10* is identical to the first form,except for being sectionally formed. Thus, each of the two sections ofthe belt includes a face piece 12 having inturned flanges 14 a stiffenerpiece 16 having inturned flanges i8, longitudinal inner rows of stitches24 connecting the face and stiffener pieces and a lining 26 connected bylongitudinal outer rows of stitches 34 to the face piece.

Each of the two sections is approximately half the overall belt length,said sections having their inner ends spaced closely apart mediallybetween the ends of the belt. At said ends, the sections are folded uponthemselves to form loops 6d, the terminal portions of the face pieces ofthe sections being folded under the lining as at 62. The canvasstiffener pieces 16* of the sections, it is important to note, terminateshort of the loops, so as to reduce the overall thickness of each loopWhile adding to its flexibility.

Extending transversely of each belt section to complete formation of theloops are rows of stitching 64, the stitches of the rows passing throughthe terminal portions of the linings and face pieces.

Before the loops are stitched at 64, a sliding buckle 65 is engagedtherein. The buckle is of the type having a pair of slots receiving theinner end portions of the respective belt sections. These slots define amiddle bar 66 extending transversely of the belt in the space betweenthe inner ends of the belt sections, and side bars 68 extending withinthe respective loops. The middle and side bars are connected integrallyat their ends by end member 70.

In some forms of the belt, it may be desirable to make one or both ofthe loops adjustable in size, to increase or decrease the overall lengthof the belt without affecting its appearance at the front while it is inuse, and without further affecting its expansibility. In this Way, it isproposed to permit one size of the belt to be manufactured, or at themost, no more than a few sizes, thereby reducing to a substantial extentthe overall cost of manufacture, while still not reducing in any way theattractive and utilitarian features of the belt.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent An apparel belt comprising anelongated tubular body of inelastic fabric material, a stiffener stripin said body extending substantially the length thereof, a loopencircling said body adjacent one end thereof, said loop being stitchedto one side of the body and spaced from the opposite side thereof toreceive the opposite end of the body, an elastic strip insert in theloop-mounting end of the body, said elastic strip extending along thebody to a point inwardly of the loop and extending outwardly of theadjacent end of the body, a fabric cover over the outwardly extendingend of the elastic strip, spaced fastener elements on the end of thebody opposite the looped end, and a mating fastener element secured tothe fabric cover and the elastic strip outwardly of the adjacent end ofthe body for selective engagement with one of the spaced fastenerelements, the ends of the tubular body being shaped along theirlongitudinal edges to rest parallel with each other when the end-s arein overlapping engagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6Smith Aug. 26, 1913 Smith Apr. 6, 1915 Soar Mar. 15, 1921 Fisher Apr.21, 1931 Dufiy Oct. 4, 1932 Prindle July 19, 1938 Luftig June 8, 1948FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Oct. 13, 1931

